Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 78
Reading I
Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
who
seeks his strength in flesh,
whose
heart turns away from the LORD.
He is
like a barren bush in the desert
that
enjoys no change of season,
but
stands in a lava waste,
a
salt and empty earth.
Blessed
is the one who trusts in the LORD,
whose
hope is the LORD.
He is
like a tree planted beside the waters
that
stretches out its roots to the stream:
it
fears not the heat when it comes;
its
leaves stay green;
in the
year of drought it shows no distress,
but
still bears fruit.
Responsorial Psalm
R (40:5a) Blessed are they
who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the
counsel of the wicked,
nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor
sits in the company of the insolent,
but delights in the law of the LORD
and
meditates on his law day and night.
R Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted
near running water,
that yields its fruit in due season,
and
whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they
are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the
way of the wicked vanishes.
R Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Reading II
Brothers and sisters:
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;
you are still in your sins.
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are the most pitiable people of all.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Rejoice and be glad;
your reward will be great in heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus came down with the Twelve
and stood on a stretch of level ground
with a great crowd of his disciples
and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:
“Blessed
are you who are poor,
for
the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed
are you who are now hungry,
for
you will be satisfied.
Blessed
are you who are now weeping,
for
you will laugh.
Blessed
are you when people hate you,
and
when they exclude and insult you,
and
denounce your name as evil
on
account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe
to you who are rich,
for
you have received your consolation.
Woe to
you who are filled now,
for
you will be hungry.
Woe to
you who laugh now,
for
you will grieve and weep.
Woe to
you when all speak well of you,
for
their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
The prophet Jeremiah reminds us of where we should put our trust and the implications that will come as a result. Whatever we ultimately do, will define what we experience in this life and the next. There is a tendency for us to be attracted to people who we feel will benefit us and help us accomplish our goals. Relationships are often formed based on these criteria. Even in intimate relationships, there are factors that come into play like careers, aspirations, and mutual goals. Ultimately, there are limitations in all of these areas, for what can be accomplished, together or separate, are based on our human condition. God, by comparison, is limitless in nature. He reminds us through Jeremiah that when we put our trust in God, we will flourish as a result. Even in times of distress, we will be provided for all that we need to overcome our temporary conditions and be better as a result. The image of a tree by a stream can give us consolation that there will be constant sustenance regardless of what we are confronted with. A priest friend of mine explained it this way when describing the Love of God:
“Grace is like a garden hose turned on and pouring out water. The water is God’s Love, and the hose is our relationship with God. The source of the love, God, is never turned off and the water never stops flowing. We are actually the ones who control the flow. There will be times that, through our actions and thoughts, that we will cut off the flow by bending the hose. At other times we will open it up. We have full control. God never stops loving us, it is we who stops loving Him.”
The question that arises is, “Why would we ever want to stop loving God?” Does that actually serve any benefit? Having that thought serves no logical purpose and gives us nothing in the long run. It can only bring about misery. As God said through Jeremiah,
“Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.”
These words might seem a little harsh, but they are true enough. Knowing what we know about God, choosing to put reliance in things that are defective in nature, indicates that a decision was made to reject what God was offering in favor of something of lesser value. “Strength of the flesh,” is descriptive of anything that comes from human origin. Embracing that which is below God indicates a rejection of God. We are constantly confronted with that choice in our lives. We will be offered choices between what God is offering us and what society offering us. Making the proper choice, between God and things of human origin, will define our experiences and successes that we will have in this life.
Psalm 40 also places an emphasis on a right relationship with God. It is through God that we receive all spiritual blessings. These blessings have the capability to affect the outcomes of everything that we do. It is impossible to become the best version of ourselves, live a transformative experience, and achieve what we can achieve to our fullest potential without the help of God. Thinking that we can, is the first step to failure or falling short. The result is already predetermined by the first act: letting God in or not. Keeping our trust where it belongs, with God, is the determining factor.
The ultimate comparison comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain. Sitting down with the people, Jesus is speaking directly to us as equals. He is not speaking from a mountaintop, which would indicate authority, but from a place of intimacy. The Blessings He speaks of all come directly from God. In fact, the more that we struggle and keep our trust in God, the better we will become as a result. Our rewards lie in our spiritual condition and not the materialism of this world. Suffering is only for the moment, while a relationship with God is forever. This world cannot take anything away from God and cannot be victorious over us as long as God is with us. As the Apostle Paul said, “If God is with us, who can be against us?”
Paul describes Jesus as being, “The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” He is the fore bearer of all things to come. He is leading the way. This makes us his disciples and Children of the Resurrection. That fact alone makes us inheritors of all things in heaven. Those who are rich now and are satisfied have already received their reward on this earth, for what was pursued had its roots in the material, thus the reward is only material. Eternity and spirituality are what can wait for us, if that is what we embrace now. Jesus is encouraging us to look around. All that we can see will eventually amount to nothing in comparison to what awaits. Experiencing life with the understanding that there is more that awaits us, something infinitely better, will lead to a better experience in the moment and a future of promise.
Deacon Tom
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